(WILSON, NC) Three Barton players registered double-doubles Monday night as the defending NCAA D-II National Basketball Champions won an ugly game, 74-69, against visiting Virginia State University.
Barton finishes the pre-exam portion of its schedule at 6-3 overall, with two of its losses coming to Elite Eight teams from last season (Bentley and Wingate). VSU left at 3-5 overall. Barton and VSU will square off again to open the 2008 portions of their schedules on Jan. 2.
Sophomore L.J. Dunn (Raleigh, NC) had 15 points, 11 rebounds; senior center Brian Leggett (Alexandria, VA) had 11 points and 12 boards; and sophomore forward Eddie Kershaw (Youngstown, OH) tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who led 27-23 at intermission. Sophomore guard Aaron Suggs (Wilson, NC) added 15 points and six assists.
The first half featured 29 turnovers (15 for VSU and 14 for BC), as well as 29-percent shooting for the Trojans and 34 percent for the Bulldogs in the sweltering “Dog House,” where Barton has now won 16 straight.
The pace quickened in the second half, when both teams did a better job of handling the ball. Barton, which dominated the glass 50-37, pushed the lead to 12 points with three minutes left, but VSU finally found the range from downtown to close the gap. Suggs and junior guard Bobby Buffaloe (Fuquay-Varina) put the game out of reach from the free-throw line.
Trey Mines paced the Trojans with 18 points, Clifton Springfield-Cobb canned 11 and Edwin Torres tallied 10 points and six assists. Both teams struggled from the foul line. Barton was 24-of-40 for 60 percent and VSU drilled just 19-of-29 for 65.5 percent. The game featured 55 fouls (31 on VSU) and 49 turnovers (25 for BC). Barton did not trail after tying the game at 13-13 with 6:22 to play in the first half.
